Oil burner



. 1,647,091 1927' A. B. GQODSPEED v OIL BURNER Filed Aug. 3, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 N m mm/mn g g m Oct. 25; 1927.

A. B. GOODSPEED IL BURNER Filed Aug. 3, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Tal M IVE V5 Patented Oct. 25, 1927.

.UNITEDSTATES Antennae. Goonsrnnn, or onnsrnn, common-room.

OIL BURNER.

'Applieation filed August 3, 1923. Serial No. 655,386.

The improved oil burner which is the subject of the present invention has been designed with reference primarily to domestic use for house heating and other purposes. The effort has been, therefore, to meet all of the requirements of domestic use, namely, that the burner shall be safe, self-contained, quiet in operation, odorless, economical, localized as to heat developed, capable of operating continuously without clogging, on readily obtainable distillates, capable of being easily controlled even by inexpert attendants, capable of being installed at a moderate cost, and readily applicable to various types of heatersnowdnuse. For industrial uses, where noise is less objectionable than in domestic use and greater intensity of heat developed. is desirable, the improved burner, While meeting all of the other requirements above mentioned, is capable of being operated under higher pressure with accompanying noisiness in operation. Theinvention will be fully described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which it is illustrated and in which 7 Figure 1 is a View mainly in vertical section but partly in' elevation of a burner which is constructed in accordance with the invention, the refractory material employed in connection with the generator being omitted to permit details of construction to be shown more readily and clearly.

Figure 2 is a similar view of the burner alone, the plane of section being at right angles to that of Figure 1 so as to show details not shown clearly in Figure 1. t

Figure 3 is a detail top view of the base, partly broken away.

Figure 4, is a detail top view of the starting burner, also partly broken away.

Figure 5 is a detail top view of the generator with some of the refractory material in position thereon.

The fuel oil. is supplied from any suitable source, under pressure or by gravity, through a pipe a, the flow being controlled by a valve at b, the construction and operation of which will be described hereinafter.

From the valve 6 the oil is conducted through a pipe at which is tapped into a base 0, which is channeled as ate. The base 0 is preferably formed with a conical seat 0 to receive a conical liner 0Z, which in turn formed with a conical seat (13%;:

- valves receive a conical member e which supports the burner tip 6. The conical liner is channeled as at (Z and the burner support is' channeled as at e to permit the oil to be delivered to the orifice e of the burner tip.

It will be observed that the liner d is threaded as at d to receive a sleeve f which can be rotated to regulate the passage of superheated steam from the generator hereinafter mentioned to be mingled with the oil from the burner tip e. The liner d, flanged as shown at 01 is securedto the base 0 by screw bolts d and the burner tip supporter 6 may be secured to the liner by screw bolts 6* and so held in place. The burner tip supporter 6 may. also be provided with a removable plug 6 for convenience in manufacture and in'cleaning. It will be observed that the burner tip e has anexternal diameter less than the internal diameter of the'bor e of the liner d so as to form a chamber (Z about the burner tip e for the admission of superheated steam from the generator, to be described.

ater is supplied from any suitable source, under pressure or by gravity, through a pipe g. The flow of water is controlled, so as to permit or prevent the passage of water, by a valve 6, the construction and operation of which will be described hereinafter, and the water is then conducted by a pipe 9 to a channel g in one of the radial lugs or arms of the base 0 whence it is delivered through a plpe g to the generator h. superheated steam from the generator h is delivered through a pipe h, which rises within the generator nearly to the top thereof, and a pipe k to a channel 72. in one of the radial lugs or arms of the base 0, whence it is delivered through a channel it to the chamber 0Z about the burner tip 6. A removable plug .0 may be provided for convenience in manufacture andin cleaning.

For convenience in filling the generator initially with water there is provided a fillin tube g which has a cut-off g Feference has been made above to the valves 6 and b. by which the flow of oil and water, respectively, are controlled, it'being assumed that the supply of oiland the sup- 7 ply of water to the points at which the are located, are steady. These valves 12 and bv are controlled by the. pressure developed within the generator h, which pressure is communicated. through suitable connections If and h to a chamber 71 below a diaphragm i, which is secured in usual manner between the two parts 2' and i of a housing which also supports the oil and water valves. Acting upon the upper side of the diaphragm i is a reaction spring 2' which resists yieldingly upward movement of the diaphragm under the influence of increased pressure within the chamber 2' and restores the diaphragm to normal position as the pressure beneath the diaphragm,

subsides. The oil valve head 2" rests normally on the seat formed therefor in the member a l of the housing and prevents the passage of oil to the burner. The stem i of the valve head i is supported by the valve head with its lower end slightly above the diaphragm. The head i of the water valve 6 rests normally on its seat i preventing the fiow of water from the pipe 9 into the pipe g, and its stem terminates just below the diaphragm i, the weight of the valve head and stem being in part supported by a coiled spring 1*. Until the generation of steam and therefore the development of pressure has been commenced bythe heat of the starting lamp hereinafter mentioned, both valves 5 and b are closed, but when suflicient pressure has been developed the diaphragm z" is forced upward, raising the valve body i i and permitting the valve body i i to be raised by the spring 2' so that both valves are lifted from their seats and both oil and water are delivered respectively to the burner tip and to the generator.

The interior of the generator isv connected through a pipe if, with an extension it upward within the generator nearly to tile top so as to prevent the escape of water, with a safety valve of ordinary construction, indicated at h. As soon as the pressure within the generator exceeds the pressure determined by the safety valve, the safety valve will open and the pressure within the generator will fall, permitting the diaphragm 2" to return to or toward its normal position and thereby checking the flow of oil to the burner and of water to the gen crater.

The gei'ierator /'iis preferably annular and externally is ribbed radially, as at M", and between the ribs is laid, so as to cover partially the surface of the generator, a. refractory material, preferably a hard braided cord 72, of asbestos. To form an ineandescent igniter, for the purpose of relighting the burner if it should be extinguished by a brief interruption of the flow of oil to the burner, there are also laid across the top of the'generator other cords 72- of hard braided asbestos which may be looped around lugs of the generator, one of which is shown at 71 The asbestos cords h}? may be simply wrapped around the generator as shown and secured in any convenient manner and jacket the generator only in part so that the generator shall have sufficient surface exposed to the heat of the burner to bring about the evaporation of a greater quantity of water than that which is required for maintenance of the operation of the burner at a maximum, the surplus steam so generated being disposed of as will be described hereinafter.

For the purpose of starting the operation of the burner there is provided a starting lamp 7c, the two annular, connected grooves 70 and 70 of which receive a suitable wicking as shown at 7 3 and are supplied with a sufficient quantity of oil for starting through a filling tube Ac This starting lamp is itself annular and is provided with a central opening 70 and other openings k so as to permit the free passage of the hot products of combustion upward from the burner into contact with the generator, and may 1e supported adjustably as to height by adjustable collars Z2 secured on the tubes and 72?. The starting lamp can thereby be placed in that relation to the generator which is found to be most desirable under the given conditions of operation.

To confine to some extent the heat developed by the burner and to secure its most favorable application 'to the generator, there is provided a chimney sleeve Z which surrounds the other parts previously men tioned. Thischimne'y sleeve is slotted as at Z to engage lugs which projectfrom the base and other projecting parts, so that the chimney sleeve is prevented from turning, and it restsfthrough cam surfaces Z, upon the lugs m of the rotatable adjusting ring m so that the height of the chimney sleeve Z and of the parts carried by it can be adjusted to suit different conditions of operation, the adjusting ring m being itself supported upon the base 0. The chimney sleeve is of course slotted at such points may be necessary to accommodate the various connections heretofore referred to. At its upper end the chimney sleeve carries a ring aof suitable refractory material, which is provided with openings 11-, and may also carry, resting upon the ring a, a cover 0, which may also be provided with openings 0.

Drainage tubes 39 and p are provided 'to collect and return from the connection h and from the housing 72, about the discharge pipe h of the safety valve it, to a central well 0 in the base 6,. such liquid as may condense in such connection and housing and such condensed liquid, as well as escaped oil, may be drawn off from the well through a connection ('2 provided for the purpose. It will be observed that such superheated steam as may be discharged through the safety valve is discharged Withlie in the upper part of the chimney sleeveZ to be mingled with the products of combustion from the burner tip. I

In order that the complete'burner may be properly supported above the floor of the firepot or heating chamber in which it placed, the base 0 may be supported at three points upon a supportingring g, which itself may rest at three points 9 upon such floor.

In the operation of the improved burner the generator is partly filled with water through the pipe 5/, to a point below the upper end of the pipe It, so that the passage of water in a liquid state to the burner noz zle is prevented. The wicking in the starting lamp is is saturated with oil introduced through the filling tube and is ignited by the introduction of a match or taper through the ignition orifice Z in the chimney sleeve Z. At this time the oil supply valve 6 and the water supply valve 6 are closed, the diaphragm i not being subjected to abnormal pressure. After a short space of time steam is developed within the generator and passes through the pipe if, the channel 72 and the chamber (2 and escapes through the narrow annular opening about the ta-. pered nozzle 6 The escaping StGHIIl' converts the sluggish flame of the starting lamp into a hotter, smokeless flame by which the generator it is more highly heated and steam is generated Within the same and superheated. As the pressure within the generator increases it acts upon the under sideof the diaphragm 2" raising it against pressure of the spring so that the oil valve 6 and the water valve 6 are both opened and the flow of oil to the burner tip and of water to the generator is commenced. The burner tip 6, as will be observed, projects above the steam regulating cap f and above the steam nozzle so that there is no tendency on the part of the steam to create any back pressure on the oil nozzle, while the velocity of the steam, as it issues from the steam nozzle, is too low to influence the flow of oil from the oil nozzle, such fiow therefore being determined by the pressure under Which the oil is supplied. The oil nozzle, as explained above, is surrounded by superheated steam but the fuel ejector nozzle is of such internal capacity and length and the oil ejector orifice is of such calibre that the velocity of the fuel oil which passes through the nozzle, and minimum head and minimum capacity, is sufficient to keep the ordinary fuel oils at a temperature within their flash points so that the physical identity of the fuel within the nozzle is not changed and therefore no carbon deposits can take place within the nozzle and the fuel oil will issue uninterruptedly and continuously. The quantity of fuel oil which passes through the nozzle in a given time is determined by the calibre of the orifice and the viscosity of the oil. The calibre of the orifice is predetermined for each installation. The calibre of the orifice remains unchanged for each installation while the character of the flame (high, intermediate or low), is determined by regulation of the pressure under. which the oil is delivered.

Under the conditions of operation now established the combustion of the fuel, mingled with the superheated steam, continues as perfect combustion with evolution of maximum heat; The pressure within the generator may increase until 1t becomes sufficient to open the safety valve 70 after which the pressure may continue or may fall. If, by reason of the opening of the safety valve or for any other reason, the pressure in the generator falls materially, the dia phragm i will return towards or to its normal position and both valves Z) and bwill close. If there should be an interruption in the flow either of the fuel oil or of the water the pressure in the generator Will fall and the sup-" ply of both fuel oil and water will cease, and the operation of the burner will be discon-' tinued, as is desirable for reasons of safety, economy and prevention of flooding. The generator, by reason of its jacket of refractory material, will maintain its heat for a considerable time and the refractory material 72 above the generator, and out of contact therewith for the greater part of its length, will continue in a condition of incandescence for a substantial time. Therefore, if the interruption of the flow of either fuel oil or water or the-falling of the pressure in the generator is temporary only, as may happen, the reignition of the burner will take place automatically without requiring therelighting of the starting lamp is.

The pressure relief valve it will be calculated for a fixed resistance and to maintain a pressure in the generator slightly below that due to the minimumhead of the fuel elements and there is therefore a constant discharge of superheated steam within the shell or chimney sleeve of the heater. There is therefore maintained within the generator a constant and uniform pressure and a uniform discharge of the superheated steam around the fuel nozzle, thereby insuring a steady and uniform combustion. This per-- foot combustion is not impaired by the escape of surplus steam through the relief valve, since it minglesonly with the tip of the flame as it passes from the combustion chamber. It will be understood that by raising or lowering the shell or. chimney sleeve Z, with the refractory top 0 it is possible to regulate the flame and to control the temperature of the refractory elements and of the generator. In the operation of the burner at maximum capacity the refractory plate or top 0 will usually be raised as I high as possible. The lifting of the chimney sleeve or shell for this purpose also increases the area for the admission of air below the lower edge of the sleeve or shell, which air passes up within the shell and through the annular openings within and around the starting lamp, the supply of air, the flow of which is induced by the heat tension Within the burner, being in this manner kept in proportion to the intensity of combustion. The adjustment of the steam nozzle permits of a setting that will insure the delivery oi the proper volume of superheated steam under different conditions of use.

It will be understood that the provision of the relief valve not only prevents the pressure in the generator from rising above a safe limit but also prevents the temperature from rising too high for, through the escape of steam, it permits an excess of water to be evaporated with consequent cooling of the generator. This feature is especially advantageous when the burner is operated under substantial pressure, as when the water is obtained from a municipal water supply under substantial pressure.

It will be understood that various changes in details of construction and arrangement will be made to suit different conditions of.

use and that, except as pointed out in the claims, the invention is not restricted to the particular construct-ion and arrangement shown and described herein.

1 claim as my invention:

1. In an oil burner, the combination of a fuel nozzle, a steam nozzle in proximity thereto, an annular steam generator above the fuel and steam nozzles and connected to the steam nozzle, and a chimney sleeve surrounding the nozzles and the steam generator and having a top of refractory material above the generator and exposed directly to the heat developed from the nozzles with passages for the escape of the products of combustion.

2. In an oil burner, the combination of a fuel nozzle, a steam nozzle in proximity thereto, an annular generator connected to the steam nozzle, and a body otret'ractory 

